the first lady attended the funeral of ha-die-ya pendleton. who was gunned walking home from school last month. athena jones reports. >> reporter: first lady michelle obama is returning to her hometown to attend the funeral of 15-year-old hadiya pendleton, a bystander shot dead in a chicago park a week after she performed at the president's inauguration. vice president biden memorialized the young honor student in remarks to house democrats. >> this was no ordinary child. she was a child who had used social media, urging her friends to speak out, don't join gangs and now she is gone. >> reporter: pendleton was killed just a mile from the first family's home in chicago, a city facing an epidemic of gun violence. it's an issue president obama has raised numerous times, including in a speech after newtown. >> as a nation, we have endured far too many of these tragedies in the last few years. >> an elementary school in newtown, a shopping mall in oregon, a house of worship in wisconsin, a movie theater in colorado, countless street corners in plac